One of the more surprising announcements from Qantas’ recent Frequent Flyer overhaul is the upcoming shutdown of Points Club and the associated ability to earn Status Credits on eligible reward flights.
Currently, members earn Status Credits when travelling on Qantas-operated Classic Flight Rewards. This helps frequent flyers maintain or achieve status even when redeeming their hard-earned Qantas Points. But as part of the airline’s sweeping program changes announced earlier this year, that benefit is going away.
Now, Qantas has confirmed the feature will return – but only for eligible credit card holders.
A shift from program benefit to cardholder perk
Rather than rewarding status members equally when redeeming Classic Flight Rewards, Qantas is instead using the benefit to add value to one of its co-branded credit card products.
At this stage, the airline has not revealed which card partner will receive the benefit. We also don’t know when it’ll launch or how many Status Credits members will earn per reward flight. However, Point Hacks understands that Qantas is targeting a launch at the end of 2026, perhaps in November.
The incoming feature will likely maintain the current Status Credits earning rate. One consequence of this change is that retirees, or those unable to obtain a credit card, may no longer be able to access this feature once Points Club is retired.
Upcoming status changes to roll out in 2026-27
In conjunction with this, we expect Qantas to reveal more details about its upcoming status changes in the coming months. The plan is to introduce the beneficial changes first – including status rollover and banking years of Platinum status for high-earners.
With a minimum of 12 months’ notice before the more contentious changes come into effect, no one should be disadvantaged during the transition phase. So for this year at least, you can continue aiming to retain your status at the lower rate.
NAB Qantas Rewards Signature
- Bonus points
- Up to 130,000 bonus Qantas Points + $250 cashback
- Annual fee
- $420 p.a.
- Earn
- 1 Qantas Point earned per $1 spent up to $5,000, then 0.5 points per $1 thereafter, capped at $20,000 per statement period, plus 1 additional Qantas Points earned per $1 spent on selected Qantas products and services²
NAB Qantas Rewards Signature
- Bonus Points
- Up to 130,000 bonus Qantas Points + $250 cashback
- Annual Fee
- $420 p.a.
- Earn
- 1 Qantas Point earned per $1 spent up to $5,000, then 0.5 points per $1 thereafter, capped at $20,000 per statement period, plus 1 additional Qantas Points earned per $1 spent on selected Qantas products and services²
NAB is offering up to 130,000 bonus Qantas Points for new cardholders of the NAB Qantas Rewards Signature Card¹, plus 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 12 months with a 3% balance transfer fee⁴. Balance transfers must be applied for during the card application. The card also includes complimentary insurances, such as International Travel Insurance, Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty Insurance³, and earns 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on the first $5,000 per statement period, then 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 on spend up to $20,000.
Hi Brandon and team,
Surely it has to be their own Qantas CC products like the Titanium that will reward you the status credits?